PALESTINIAN militants for the first time attacked a station where fuel is piped from Israel into the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing two Israeli civilians.
At least two of the assailants were killed during exchanges of fire inside Israeli territory at the terminal of the Nahal Oz border crossing with Gaza, an army spokeswoman said.
Three more Palestinians, including a civilian, were killed by Israeli
shells that struck a house near Nahal Oz, Palestinian reports said. Another three Palestinians were wounded, one of them seriously, during an air strike on a vehicle in Gaza City. The army spokeswoman said the air strike was against those who planned the Nahal Oz attack.
All the fuel pumped into the Gaza Strip passes through Nahal Oz.
Israel has reduced fuel supplies to Gaza as part of its sanctions against Hamas and the raid could enable it to argue that it is unsafe for workers to pipe it into Gaza.
Although Hamas was not one of the three groups to take responsibility, Israeli officials said they hold it responsible since it controls Gaza.
Abu Mujahid, a spokesman for one of the three groups, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said: "The target was a Zionist army base and the aim was to abduct soldiers to swap for Palestinian prisoners."
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